It has stood in the heart of Paris for more than 500 years - yet very few people will have heard of the Gothic Tour Saint Jacques.

Tour Saint Jacques, historically a stop
on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, is one of
the best-kept secrets of the French capital.

But that is all about to change after the 170-ft high structure built in the 1500s has been opened to the public for the entire summer for the first time.

New attraction: Tour Saint Jacques in Paris has been opened to the public for the entire summer for the first time

In the heart of the city: Tour Saint Jacques, which is pictured dominating the skyline of Paris, offers stunning views of the French capital

The 62-metre (203-foot) stone tower offers visitors stunning bird's eye views from the heart of Paris - provided they have the energy to walk up its 300-step spiral staircase and pay the €6 euro entrance fee.

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From the zinc-topped terrace, the capital's most iconic landmarks compete for attention, from the neighboring Conciergerie, Ile-Saint-Louis and Notre-Dame to the Pompidou Centre, the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre and La Defense.

Adorned with gargoyles and topped by a 3.5-metre statue of St James the Apostle, the tower is all that remains of the medieval church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, pillaged and destroyed by French revolutionaries in the late 18th century.

The bell tower - which will be open until September 15 - was spared for its beauty and possibly to be used as a watchtower to spot the capital's frequent and deadly fires, curators say.

Make the most of it: Visitors stand and take pictures on top of the Saint Jacques Tower which is open to the public for the summer

Challenging: The view from inside of the Saint Jacques Tower which has 300-steep steps to the very top

Room with a view: Visitors look inside the Tour Saint Jacques which has undergone a ¿8.3-million restoration between 2000 to 2009

Steep descent: A visitor walks down the spiral staircase of the Tour Saint Jacques in Paris

In the early 19th century, the bells were removed and Tour Saint Jacques became a smoke-spewing 'shot tower', or ammunition plant.

Molten lead passed through a sieve and dropped from the top of the tower to land in a tub of water in the shape of a bullet. Later, it hosted a meteorological station until the 1990s.

The Tour Saint Jacques underwent a meticulous €8.3-million restoration between 2000 to 2009, during which time it was shrouded by scaffolding and decades of pollution were scrubbed from each of its stones.

The city of Paris granted a local association an exceptional permit to organize summertime visits until September 15.

'We would like it to be open for a longer period each year,' said Remi Riviere, head of the association. 'If we get a lot of visitors this summer and nobody jumps from the terrace then hopefully the city will give us the green light.'

The city of Paris granted a rare permit for the Tour Saint Jacques to open its doors to the public until September 15

Panoramic views: Tour guide David gives explanations to visitors as they look at the Paris skyline from the zinc-topped terrace of the Tour Saint Jacques

Facade: A partial view of the outside of the Gothic Saint Jacques Tower which is adorned with gargoyles